Step by Step

You might say I'm a little bit competitive. Catch me playing a board game of just about any kind and you'll get the gist of it. I like to win... or come in at a respectable second.

This is probably why running and golfing are so frustrating. I am mediocre at best at both, but I do it because I am always up for a challenge -- just to prove I can do something. Sometimes I have good results. Other times, not so much.

My latest "new challenge" is a summer fitness challenge through work. It kicked off yesterday and, since today was in the 80s and very much like summer, it was easy to get started. The premise is earning points by putting miles on your pedometer each week and adding more points through a few other challenges.

Basically, if a participant (contestant!!) averages walking/running 3 or so miles a day, they should reach the point level that puts them in a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire. I want! I want! But the bigger challenge is for a dedicated participant to average about 5 miles a day, which is really about 10,000 steps and that is what we should be striving for anyway. If I can do that diligently between now and Aug. 31 -- one long, hot summer -- I should reach enough points to be in a drawing for an iPad. I want! I really want!

Of course, I would be content with either prize but I suspect my odds would be better with the iPad. I mean most people can average 3 miles just walking around the office and the grocery store. So a lot of people will be in that drawing. Maybe I'll be surprised and more people will go for the big one. I kind of hope not.

My competitive edge is often softened these days be age-related aches and pains and, well, general laziness.

So we'll see. I've taken the first steps -- 10,000 actually -- the first 2 days so we're on a roll now! See you at the finish line! (One of them, anyway.)